If there’s one thing a-net bad at it’s making a sale. Here are few simple effective methods to get these xpac sales going and players wanting.
1. Time Trials.
No. Not betas. Not demos. No gutted content. Just time limited access to the whole thing, bells and whistles included. That’s how you guys sold me core game in 2 days.
Removing parts of gameplay, makes the experience washed down, less attractive, and giving off wrong impression of the final product. Is that what you want? People walking away saying “meh, not impressed.”?
With time trialed full version, you are giving players accurate assessment of what’s to come, throw everything at them with far greater chance to hook’em. They started their spec weapon collection. They got themselves their new pet. They unlocked an armor skin. They saw epic part of map #3, which they can’t get to yet, cause mastery! So much more to do, if you buy and continue on after the trial period!
2. Remind core tyria players of xpac – *THE FUN WAY!
Add events in core Tyria when you can rent a glider and do some cool HoT style gliding minigame. With updrafts, ley line gliding, leaning etc. Remember, core players only see regular glides. They don’t see updraft puzzles, ley lines to glide on and the real fun that it brings once you venture into maguuma.
Better yet – make a “Jungle Preparation camp” where you can try things the HoT style. Some mushrooms, a small map that has a lot of verticality, how to read a map for hints if something is way up, way below etc.
Few itzel NPCs here, few Nuhoch there, Exalted in between.
A small slice of maguuma for regular players to bite into and see if they’re up for it, and prepare them better.
Since it’s only limited to this zone and it’s events you can add things like “automatic glider”, “jump boots” etc that act like HoT masteries, letting players know that they will learn all these in the jungle without need for any assistance and be able to use them whenever and wherever possible.
That is what I’d do to get ppl to not forget about xpac and experience stuff for themselves rather then rely on word of mouth.
3. Keys to maguuma/crystal desert.
You just returned from 4 moths break from GW2 and find out that xpac trial and discount were 1 week ago? Wouldn’t you get kittened if that happened to you? And it’s not uncommon to see ppl going on such breaks.
How about if instead you got a nice mail saying, “Dear player, the vast jungles of Heart of Maguuma/sands of Crystal Desert await brave adventurers to take on their deadly challanges and help Pact forces push forward!”
“Here is your key to maguuma/crystal desert which you can double click to start your 24 hour trial period, during which you can enter it’s respective zones and partake in any of it’s activities!.”
Better yet is that time is counted only when you’re actually online and in xpac maps. There are ppl with not that much time (work, other real life stuff) that would end up getting maybe hour or two outta two day regular trial. But making it bound to actual time spend in xpac zone you’re letting them get a real feel of it and a chance to get hooked!
Such key would obviously be account bound.
You could also occasionaly make a gemstore key sale, with limitation of one key per account (to prevent gem exchange from going batshit crazy), and on set time intervals (if you used one gemstore key, you cannot use another for set period).
So that the players who got the free key but are still on a fence can get another shot, but this time for putting some $ in a-net’s wallet (via gem exchange).
How much time a key would give is up to you, numbers suggested here are just a rough idea.
That’s the 3 things i would get to get players hooked, lined and sinking into xpac purchase.
Bottom line – if you don’t let them experience the real deal, instead keeping it behind gates 24/7 or giving a watered down experience, they will walk away, forget it or rely on outside reviews, instead their own hands-on and get dicouraged, as these tend to be…mixed.
(edited by ZeftheWicked.3076)